I figured as much since you said you applied to Horace Mann! We are looking at kindergarten so obviously not looking at HM but I was wondering what made you rule out RCDS and Hackley, especially considering that Hackley has boarders. Please be honest! No offense taken. I’m also not from here originally so I’m still learning about these schools. I feel that Hackley is more diverse. I think RCDS is more conservative. I think both are academically rigorous. Would love to know your thoughts on GCDS if you have any but I realize that’s a bit further away and it literally just started having high school this year. We liked it a lot.
4 more days!!! I’m dying. This was a much more involved process and more stressful than when I applied to college lol.
I’ve got confirmation from Brooks, Concord, Loomis Chaffee, Hotchkiss, Exeter, Groton, and Lawrence. I need to get an extra piece for NMH, just an email. Nothing yet from Choate, Andover, or SMS. From what I’ve seen, Choate’s not sent like any out, Andover takes a while to get it, and I have to check my SMS admissions portal but my dad has the link and I’m at school right now. Oof.
@Happydancer22 I’m curious why you say you obviously aren’t looking at HM due to being a kindergarten applicant. HM does have kindergarten.
We are also applying to GCDS and westchester schoosl (but for middle school). We’re very excited that it now goes beyond 9th.
Best of luck!
@Happydancer22 This was 2/3 years ago so I don’t really remember that much.
My parents and I didn’t really like Hackley’s campus. I think it was a bit “stuffy” and the facilities were kind of outdated. And in general I just couldn’t imagine myself at either of the schools. RCDS (from my impression) was also too sporty (I might be completely off but that was my impression)
And also, we didn’t really like the area (we were still living in China then and was planning on moving to Manhattan)
Best of luck to you as well! I must have confused HM with Masters, sorry. It is a bit too far for a kindergartener imo as we are very close to Greenwich but I would absolutely keep it in mind for middle school and beyond. We also have a 3 year old so that’s another reason I don’t want to be too far at this point. HM is certainly top notch, from what I’ve heard.
@bancqsy I think it is because HM’s nursery division is in Manhattan and too far away. That’s also why my brother (who’s 3) isn’t applying to HM
@CavsFan2003 I remember getting an email from Choate saying that they still need my transcript, but I think you are good if you didn’t receive anything from them. They also sent an email talking about applying as a day student will be easier as opposed to boarding.
Thank you! Hackley definitely has that traditional (old haha) look to it. People joke that it looks like Hogwarts! They have an enormous new health and wellness center that just opened this year and it took my breath away. They have mentioned they are planning to have a new performing arts facility in the next few years. RCDS does seem sporty to me as well but I think most of these prep schools have that vibe. They all compete against each other. It’s interssting and very helpful to me as an outsider applying to and visiting the lower schools to hear this kind of feedback because you can’t really tell if a school is “sporty” from a lower school visit, be we are interested in K-12 so we do want to know what the school is like beyond Lower School!
@CavsFan2003 That’s great! If you don’t mind me asking, when did you transition? This guy in my class is also trans, but I had no idea when I first met him (I think he did it when he was in 5th/6th grade).
And I didn’t get a confirmation email from Choate either
In my nightmare yesterday, an AO from Choate reinterviewed me because she said “you need a toxic interview to match your toxic essay”!!! I have no idea how my brain even came up with that
lol haha “toxic interview” :)) . I’ve had dreams about Choate and Loomis and they were both about the first day. In my Choate dream literally 20 kids from my class were there and I was like “where’d they come from?”
@ilovechoateeeee My story’s a little weird. I had the revelation I was trans around 6th or 7th grade but didn’t really accept it until the summer before 9th (even then I was still closeted). Came out around February of my freshman year but felt uncomfortable with how people treated it so went back into the closet. Came back out to my therapist and a few friends in September-October ish. Came back out to my dad early last month. I’ve started my social transition but physically not quite—I’ve got short hair and present as a dude (even did so at BS tours and interviews, wore a suit and stuff… don’t know how my dad didn’t know) all that fun stuff.
@CavsFan2003 Thank you for sharing such an important milestone with us. Good luck on T!
@CavsFan2003 Ohhh got it. I was confused because I read one of your posts saying you were ftm and then a later post saying you were female. I’m glad that you have fully “become” yourself. You shouldn’t have to experience judgmental people but it will probably be a lot better at boarding school!
@CaliMex Thank you! 
@ilovechoateeeee Yeah it’s been weird lol I do appreciate it. I hope it’ll be a lot better at BS, cause it’s been uncomfortable to say the least here
@ilovechoateeeee yes, I’m aware but kindergarten is on the Riverdale campus.
@bancqsy I didn’t know that! Thanks for telling me
This definitely belongs on the freakout thread… I had a vivid dream last night that our daughter (applying to K) was accepted to Hackley but that the amount of financial aid we were offered was not enough and the “family contribution” we were being asked to pay was more than double what we said we could afford in our application. I was devastated! Everyone I spoke to in my dream was extremely nonchalant and blasé towards me, saying things like “I’m not surprised…” and even my husband who I know cares very much in real life was in my dream acting like, “oh well we gave it a good try, moving on…” AAAAAACKKK! So now I’m not only worried about if we will get accepted to any of the 3 schools we applied to, but I’m wondering if we are going to get the FA we very desperately need for our child to attend! Does anyone have any FA insight about this? I was previously under the impression that if you are accepted, you will be awarded the demonstrated need since FA is need based, not merit based. We have been completely honest in our FA applications with income, expenses, debt, etc. We live VERY modestly, no vacations, nothing “extra” whatsoever, modest house in a town with below average public schools, etc. We are currently paying for an excellent (expensive) pre-school and K at a Catholic private school (our daughter is a year younger than most of her classmates so she will repeat) and can afford to pay the same as what we pay now. Most of the kindergarteners at the schools we are applying to are repeating coming from public schools or have been in a “5’s program” which is like a gap year for private school kids going into kindergarten since they have different age cut offs. Anyway, sorry for the ramble but I woke up very disturbed and freaking out! 3 days to go. Whoever said the last 3 days are the worst was apparently right. Thanks for listening.